Cooler Than Blood
Robert Lane
Mason Alley Publishing, Feb 24 2015, $14.99
St. Pete Beach, FL.
ISBN: 9780692223932
Billy Ray Coleman drives south heading to Fort Myers Beach
carrying $284,000 that he expects will soon send his brothers after him. His first and last thought about the Sunshine
State is that he never had sex there.
Thus he feels euphoric when he spots, selects and assaults eighteen year
old Jenny Spencer on a Fort Myers Beach
With his girlfriend Kathleen on board, Jake Travis sails the Gulf
on his boat the Impulse when his cell rings for the second time, which like the
first time he ignores Susan Blake’s desperate call. An attractive acquaintance Susan tests his
loyalty to Kathleen as she begs him to find her missing niece Jenny since local
police ignore her plea insisting the teen likely ran away since she recently
did just that. Jake and his P.I. partner Garrett Demarcus search for Jenny, who
apparently killed her attacker and unbeknownst to the sleuths ran off with his
money. However, the inquiry becomes
muddled when the investigation leads to a link to Kathleen’s one-time
mob-ties and soon afterward even more obfuscated.
The second Jake
Travis mystery (see The Second Letter) is a
superb suspenseful private investigator noir.
Jake is a sensational sleuth as he keeps the exhilarating storyline
focused while pursuing the teen and dodging mobsters. Kathleen and Susan add depth to the inquiry,
but also challenge the protagonist’s efforts to remain monogamous. Although Jenny comes across more as a jaded
adult similar to the other two females tormenting the hero than a teen, Cooler Than Blood will elate the subgenre audience.
Harriet Klausner
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